Denial
by Cari Shidao
Summary: Van and Fiona both seem to be in a state of serious denial. So a couple friends decided to trick them out of it!


A/N– Ah, yes. Another fluff-full Van/Fiona to grace the presence of FF net and its lovely readers. My sincere apologies for the horrible summary, but I'm...horrible at them.

Disclaimer- I do not own Zoids CC. If I did, I would be a very, very happy wealthy woman, lounging around in a huge building that I would call my home. However, I do own this current plot and the character Zemi. Fear my power :D

* * *

She had said hello to him in the hallway of the large building that they might as well call home. Everyone who occupied the headquarters got a minimum of two hours sleep. You didn't need to take a poll to see it in the faces of the men, soldiers, scientists, and others like herself, that sleep was rare. Maybe that is why he didn't say hello back? He was so tired that he simply did not hear her voice?

If she told Moonbay that this was her conclusion to Van's casting her out, the woman would tell her that again she was making up excuses that weren't necessitated. Van was merely busy with work, and there was nothing they could do about it. The same went for Irvine, who they also scarcely saw. Sometimes even Moonbay would be out working all day on the Zoids that needed repairs and carriers that needed to be mended.

Thus Fiona would be left alone in the room on the bottom floor of the building with Dr. D, doing nothing, really. Since the whole Zoid Eve affair ended, everything seemed to be at peace.

How peace kept all these men busy, she would probably never know.

Dr. D was still obsessing over ancient Zodians, however. He claimed that there was so much to learn about the past of planet Zi, and then he would always shoot me an anticipating look as if I would phantasmally snap into some enchantment and pour forth everything there is to know about the ancient Zodians.

Fiona Sighed.

'Yea, when that day comes, so will the day that Van is the one stopping in the hallway and saying hi to me...'

"I think I'm going to go home early. It's already late." She said, standing up from her seat where she had been studying some pictures taken of different ancient ruins.

Dr. D looked up from whatever he was arranging and took one glance at her before looking back downwards.

"Have a good nights rest." Was all she heard as she shut the door to the room behind her, walking down the dim hallway and out the back exit of the establishment.

She knew that she would end up walking home-...well, if Moonbay's 'shipment holder' counted as a dwelling area...but what alternative did she have? She wasn't about to burden Van's home, and he had not invited her to reside there.

I mean, she's only an ancient Zoidian. Nothing special about that. Nope, nada, nil, zero, zilch, zip. Ancient people don't need a home, or any form of affection or pampering either. In fact, we're so solitary, we'd rather take the four-mile walk home rather than the three-minute piggy back ride on a flying piece of metal.

'What?' Fiona mentally slapped herself senseless for thinking such a thought.

'There is a logical explanation for everything! Zeke has to watch over Van, Van is older then he was when we first encountered each other and has the right to absorb himself with whatever kept his interest, and I can do nothing about it!'

At those last words, tears began to sting her eyes, and no sooner had they formed did they descent down her cheeks and onto the dusty ground. She crouched down where she had been standing and for the first time in a long while, she cried.

Of corse, it wasn't until after she had started weeping that she took notice of someone standing behind her.

At first she let out a small gasp and turned around to confront them, something instinctual that had come along with being in the guardian force. But as she saw who it was, though it mildly stunned her with this fresh information, stilled herself and faced him.

Raven hadn't changed at all, attitude-wise. He still has a pronounced dislike for Van in spite of the cooperation during Zoid Eve's end, but at the same time wouldn't try to cause harm to him or anyone for that matter. But to see Raven behind her as she bawled was not something she expected to witness any day of her aliveness. But, today was the day she supposed, and she would have to go with the flow. She was again shocked when he was the first to speak.

"For someone who I thought would never feel so much of an emotion that it would drive them to shed a tear, this is the second time I've been proved wrong, and I don't take liking to being proved wrong." He said, and to her it almost sounded like that last part had a second of sarcasm.

Fiona flinched at his words. She knew that Reece was the other that had proved him wrong, but that was a different case. Did other people really look at her and think that she had the perfect life? That she could only feel certain emotions? That she was almost...

Unhuman?

Again she tried to blink back tears, but the only thing that came from the futile resistance was a hiccup.

Raven rolled his eyes.

"I know that I'm the last person you would hear this from, but we need to have a talk." And as those words came out of his mouth, Fiona knew that deep inside he was cursing Reece for turning him into a semi-softy.

And that he knew the problem was Van, and it would possibly give him respectable, just, appropriate reason to debate and argue with him like he use too in the good old days.

* * *

"Van?"

He barely noticed his name being called by Herman, who was trying to get the youths attention away from the window and back to the subjects at hand.

Snapping out of his daze, Van jolted up, almost bringing the table with him, and later thanked whatever high-powered being was up there in the sky for gifting these other men with good reflexes. All the men had seized quickly their cups of coffee before they had the chance to spill from the sudden jolt.

Van put his hands down on the table as if to stop it from doing anything else, and looked up with a strange expression on his face.

"Eh, sorry, I didn't catch that last part..." He said and sat back down, taking a sip of his coffee as if nothing had ever happened.

Thomas, Herman, the rest of the crew— and surprisingly Rudolph, who had come to attend the meeting himself— just stared at him like he had ten heads. Thomas sighed, and decided to make a jest out of Van's behavior that everyone had noted went off-track since he was spending less time with his friends...mainly, Thomas knew, Fiona.

"I warned you, but you didn't listen." Thomas smiled and let out a small laugh. "He's suffering from withdraw. And you can only ideate what from."

He had obviously hit a soft spot in everyone at the table, because no one could refuse letting out a snicker at the true comment, hence Van had almost choked on his coffee.

"Van, maybe you should take the week off. It would do you good," Herman offered. "You've been getting...off track lately." He ended, while van still looked at them with a shocked face.

"Take...off?"

No one could deny the confused look on the boy's face. Some even noticed that Zeke— who had been in the corner of the room also looking out the window— had turned his head and his eyes lighted at the words.

"Dear god, child!" Schubaltz nearly gasped. "Have we really been working you that hard?"

A bunch of murmuring and whispering erupted from the table. Everyone obviously found Van's situation an interesting topic to talk about, but Van himself was still in a state of revere.

"Take...off?" He repeated to himself out loud; and no sooner after he had said it, a smug grin slowly formed on his face where once a tired frown had been.

People began to notice this and ended their conversations as Van jumped onto the table, allowing a small wave of shock from it's occupants, except for those who knew Van best.

"Take off! No work! Freedom!" Van yelped with joy as he jumped back off the table and started rolling around on the floor in pure joy. After they gave him his time to frolic around the office room, he walked back over to the table quickly and saluted his comrades with tears of happiness streaming out his eyes like waterfalls.

"Thank you all for this glorious day!" he yelped quickly before skipping out of the room, followed by a Semi-energetic Zeke.

"I sure hope that helps." Herman said.

"I'm sure it will. The boy just needed a break." Schubaltz said in reply, before everyone began straitening out the table again from when Van had leaped on it, and continued with their meeting.

* * *

Van had skipped out of the room, and ceased when he knew no one could see him or hear him. The smile disappeared from his face, and was again replaced with a worried look.

Yes, he was worried.

Zeke obviously saw this, and walked up to Van's site, tilting his head slightly as if to question what was wrong.

Van let out a heavy sigh as he leaned his back against the wall.

"It's Fiona, Zeke." Van replied to the organoid. "I feel guilty! I don't like feeling guilty! And I'm tired, too..." He almost whispered as he leaned his head against the wall and looked up at the ceiling. It was close to early morning now, and he just noticed that he had been pulling all-nighters working like this for a VERY long time. Sometimes he would be so tired, that when people said hello to him in the hallway or pass by him to say something, he'll be too tired to know who it is or what they're telling him.

He was hoping that Fiona didn't take it the wrong way. Maybe she had been one of the people who said hello to him, and he didn't answer? A horrible feeling went through his stomach as he leaned his head back down, no longer interested in the ceiling.

She use to be the one he would always go to when he had a problem, she probably thinks that he's ignoring her and hates her or something...which was clearly wrong, because what Van felt was the exact opposite.

He had to talk to Fiona. And work wasn't stopping him this time.

* * *

As Fiona had hinted, Raven's actions had something to do with Reece.

And they did.

Raven had led her into a large, crowded late-night Café, were Reece was already sitting down at a table drinking tea. The first thing that Fiona took notice too was that this Café they walked to was significantly close to Van's home. Fiona then also noticed that Reece had definitely changed within the past year. Her blue hair was longer then before, and her clothes were loose around her. In other words, she had definitely settled down, and probably had no intentions of getting back up.

Raven sat down first, taking a long gulp of the tea he had ordered before Reece sent him to get Fiona. He obviously had no thoughts of listening to girl-talk, and through Reece and Fiona's whole conversation, only spoke up when Van's name was mentioned. And sometimes he didn't even speak, he just snarled and grinded his teeth, in which Reece would reply by rolling her eyes at him.

They were no doubt a very interesting couple.

"You're crying." Was the first thing Reece had said to her when Fiona sat down. Fiona replied with a small hiccup, and wearily attempted to dry her eyes. It was probably 2 o'clock in the morning, and Van would be leaving work soon. She shook the thought from her head.

"I've been noticing that you and Van don't talk to each other much anymore."

"Well-" Fiona said softly followed by another hiccup. "He's been busy with work for the Guardian force and-" but she was cut short by Raven.

"We know that. What else does he do? Workaholic son of a-" But then Raven was also cut short by a death glare from Reece, preventing him from saying whatever he would have added onto that sentence. Fiona didn't think she wanted to hear it, anyway.

"He isn't that bad, Raven, and we aren't here to discuss him in general. This is for Fiona." Reece said to him as he turned his head like a stubborn child and sipped his tea again. Reece smiled at her ability to hush him. With or without her other "mind powers", the normal ones that came with human spirit worked just fine when it came to Raven's attitude.

"Fiona, I know you like Van a lot. Probably more then a lot. Am I right?" The older woman smiled at her. Reece was only about a year older then Fiona, and the same went for Raven and...she didn't want to say it, but Van. But then these ages she was comparing were only based on Raven, Reece's, and Van's ages at the moment, and what age she thought she was. She had no memory of when she was born or when her birthday was, or how old she might have been when she was placed into her pod unknown years ago. She must have been around twelve or thirteen, considering she was almost Van's height. Van...

She started to cry again remembering the fun they had and everything they had gone through as they both matured and got older. Even now they were still young. Did Van remember everything they went through? How she had helped him? How he had helped her? Or how she was the one that got him into finding Zoid Eve? Maybe that's why he hated her...she had dragged him through all of these years just because he promised to help her remember who she use to be, which even now she still had no idea of her past?

She covered her eyes with her hands and cried hard. It was a good thing the Café was loud and crowded, or people would have stared at her.

Reece wanted to tell Fiona how wrong she was. Even though retired from what she use to be able to do, she could still slightly read Fiona's mind, and knew her doubts. Doubts that were not worth crying over, because they were not true and would never be true.

Van had scarcely been an insensitive jerk. She also knew that Van cared for Fiona just as much as she cared for him. Of corse, Reece had her own way of saying this out loud.

"Fiona, you have to understand that there is a difference between a man and a woman when it comes to emotions like these. Women follow their natural instincts on what to do, and try to speak from their heart. while men..." She glared and smiled over at Raven who was now staring intently at her, obviously knowing the words to come.

"Get confused, do what they do to protect their pride, and speak from their ass." She added with an exaggerated smile; followed by Raven almost choking and spiting out his tea, spraying it all over the wall next to them. Fiona couldn't help but laugh at his reaction, even though she was still crying. She tried to wipe what was now tears of laughter from her eyes and noticed that Reece was doing the same.

"I do NOT get confused, and I do NOT speak from my ass!" Raven said with wide eyes.

"Maybe, but you do protect your pride." Reece snapped back in a friendly way and smiled at her boyfriend. But she had made Fiona laugh, which was an accomplishment so far.

From the last words spoken, Raven received a beaten look on his face, knowing that she was right. Then finally decided that it was HIS turn to say what he thought was going on in Van's head.

"Reece is right, Fiona. Van's probably just confused and doesn't know what to do. Like he ever does, but this is a different case. If you want Van to spill anything about how he feels about you, you're going to have to be the one to tell him how you feel first. Because if you do, he'll feel that he can tell you how he feels as well." Then gave Reece a quick glare before finishing. "And pray he doesn't speak through his ass."

Reece now had the beaten look on her face. But she quickly wiped it away and smiled, seeing the contemplative look on Fiona's face. And Reece knew that she understood. Now it was time to carry on with the plan.

She let out a cough to clear her throat.

"So...ehem...I know that Raven doesn't feel like walking you all the way to Moonbay's, but we're pretty close to Van's home right now. I'm sure his sister is awake." Yea, awake because Reece filled her in on the situation. Van's sister Maria was waiting for Fiona this very minute. She smiled to herself at how wonderfully her plan was proceeding. Now she only had to wait for Moonbay and Maria to finish the job.

* * *

"What do you mean she's not here!?" Van asked while slamming his head onto the side of Moonbay's cargo carrier. He was so tired. He had spent an hour looking for Fiona within the building, only to find out from Dr. D that she had left about two hours ago.

"I TOLD you." Moonbay said. "She isn't back yet. Maybe she went into town or something to buy stuff, she's fine." she reassured her friend. But Van didn't look like he was reassured.

"B-but!"

"No buts! Its 4 in the morning Van! Go home and get some sleep." Moonbay said before shutting the door to her home. She could hear Van hop onto his hover board and the clanking of Zeke's feet as they left into the distance.

She hopped that Reece's plan had worked well on her part. Moonbay had finished her job, and now it was time for some well-deserved rest. She snickered to herself when she realized what she just done.

'I'm such a good person!' she thought to herself as she hummed her way into her room.

* * *

Maybe Moonbay was right. Maybe he needed some rest before he talked to her?

It was now way past 4 AM, and he swore as he almost fell off his hover board. He was getting too tired for his body to handle. He had really hoped to talk to Fiona and tell her how he was sorry and that he liked her a lot.

NO. Bad thoughts.

Fiona probably didn't even like him at all anymore after him ignoring her. There was no chance she would take him back, even if she did like him. He had screwed over all those possibilities when he decided that he would work at the Guardian Force full time. The chances of her forgiving him was zero to nil. Zip to nada. Zilch to nothing.

And then he almost fell off his hover board realizing what he had just thought to himself.

He stopped his hover board in mid-air and jumped off, sitting down on the sand and looking up at the starry, blue night sky. Zeke stopped behind him and almost ran into him, before regaining it's balance and joining Van on the sand, laying his head into it.

"Do I like her?" For the first time in a while, he felt a tear roll down his cheek.

'Or worse...love?'

Van knew what that meant. He knew that he wanted to be with Fiona, and he may like her a little, but he had been so involved with work that he had almost forgotten her existence.

That was when he realized his huge error was a bigger error then he thought.

"Maybe it isn't too late...maybe I can apologize and she'll forgive me..." He thought out loud. But he soon afterwards wished he didn't because Zeke stood back up from his resting place and started digging his metal claws through Van's pocket.

"HEY!? Zeke, what are you-" Van was cut short when Zeke pulled out a piece of paper. Or in more detail, a picture. It was the one taken of him, Fiona, and everyone else after the Zoid Eve incident. Him and Fiona both looked so...happy. Then he noticed that Zeke was trying to tell him something.

Zeke was pointing to the him in the picture, and then at him right now, and shaking his head. What was he trying to say?

Van was use to Zeke's way of getting his point through, so it had taken him a while to realize what the organoid was trying to explain to him.

Had Van changed that much over a whole year that Zeke thought he was a completely different person then the one in the picture?

"Have I changed that much?" Van asked. Zeke just make a strange electronic noise in response that sounded coincidently like a 'yes'.

But then Zeke started pointing again at the picture and then to him. But this time he was pointing at Fiona, and nodding. This was one of those times that Van wished he could speak organoid or something...

But just like the last gesture, this one was easy to understand, though it confused him.

Zeke was saying that him and Fiona were a good pair. The old Van was still in the new one somewhere, and Zeke had just helped bring it back. Van felt a surge of reassurance as he stood up and turned on his hover board again, stepping on it with one foot before taking off.

"Well, Zeke. If you say so!" Van smiled in the childish way he use to. It wasn't fake, and even though he felt like passing out from lack of sleep, there was something ne needed to do, and there was no way he was going to back out now.

Zeke made a happy growling noise, knowing that Van understood, and zoomed off after his friend. The following events were definitely going to prove interesting.

But first, Van had to stop at his house and talk to his sister.

* * *

Fiona looked at the clock.

4 AM.

"He should be getting home by now. This is usually the time he comes back." Maria comforted her as Fiona sat on the living room sofa in Van's— well, Maria presumed that it should belong to HER since she occupied it more then Van did...— house. At the mention of Van she was beginning to get nauseating feeling in her stomach, which she knew was from being so nervous. How was she going to tell him? What was she going to say? What would he say back? It would be easier if the Van she was about to confront was the Van from a couple years ago, so care-free and young and on-going.

As if Maria read the girls mind, she spoke to Fiona with a confident attitude.

"You know, everyone says that he's changed since he started working more." She said. Fiona just looked down at her feet. That wasn't good enough, Maria was going to have to go more in-depth.

She sighed.

"Deep down, he's still the care-free child he use to be, believe it or not. He's just been working so much lately that he's practically forgotten himself. I think the reason for that is—" Maria stopped where she was, and turned to smile at Fiona.

"Because you weren't with him."

She took note that Fiona gave out a small meep, and her eyes widened.

Yep, Maria had hit a soft spot.

She chuckled to herself.

"I'm going to head off to bed. We have a spare guest room if you feel like staying." She told Fiona with a happy smile on her face.

"I...I think I'll go sit outside for a while..." Fiona said so softly that it was almost to herself, and stood up from her place on the couch, her knees wobbly a bit from sitting so long. Or was it nerves? She didn't know anymore. She needed to think about what Maria had just said, and out in the back yard on the porch was a great place to do it.

—If she didn't fall asleep first.

She walked over to the back door and into the moonlight. She sat down on the bench swing, the cushions were just perfect and made her want to fall asleep. It was so comforting, it almost calmed her nerves for a second. Until she heard a noise from out front, that is. At first it was only faint, and barely made it to her ears, but then it got louder.

The sound of a hover board.

Fiona gulped and held back tears. No, she can't cry. She wouldn't cry. She had to tell him how she felt about him, or the clouds in her mind will never unclutter. Her eyes looked tired enough as they were, she didn't need to cry and make it worse.

She heard a door open and close, and then voices from inside. Didn't Maria say she was going to bed?

'But if Maria went to bed, no one would tell Van that you're out here.' a voice in her head thought. Maybe Maria had high hopes, but Fiona definitely did not! She felt as if she already knew rejection was on its way to her right now.

She sighed and took a deep breath.

* * *

Van knew what he wanted to do.

He had held her once before, but they were still friends back then. They didn't have these kind of feelings for each other. Or...at least he didn't. Or maybe he did, he was just too stupid to notice how she felt for him? (A/N– what Reece said was not a lie X3...)

He didn't feel like waiting for tomorrow to tell her. This was the night he wanted to do it, to tell her how he felt and how he had been a immense idiot for not seeing this in the first place. Right now he just wanted to see her...her and her alone. He had finally admitted it.

He loved her.

And right now, his whole body was not just aching from the stress of being active for more then twenty hours.

His body was yearning her, her warmth, her.

He wanted to be close to her, and never let her out of his sight again. That way he would never hurt her this much a second time.

If he didn't speak to her tonight, he would probably never be able to do this. This was the perfect time. He had to see her now. He was going to just go into the house and leave a note for Maria telling her that he was sorry for not coming home, but when he walked into the house, she was awake and getting ready for bed.

And told him that Fiona was out on the back porch.

* * *

The part of her that loved more than life itself was telling her that maybe he felt the same way. But the other side, the one that feared rejection, was telling her that if he loved her back, he would not have avoided her like he has done.

But wasn't there something Irvine had told her once? When Moonbay had gone out on a delivery and wouldn't be back for the week?

-Flashback-

"Irvine?" She asked him as they watched Moonbay drive away with the zoid parts she had to deliver.

"Hmm?" He replied as he turned around to face her, still waving goodbye to Moonbay as she drove away.

"Don't you get sad when you can't be with the person you love most?" she said and tilted her head down, to hide the look that said she was guilty of love.

"Well, as they say, absence makes the love stronger. Or was it grow? Or fonder? Well it was something like that." He said back as he walked off towards his daily duties for the Guardian Force.

-End flashback-

Fiona had been too busy in the daydream of remembrance that she did not see Van walk out onto the porch, gazing at her with what looked like a hurt look on his face...or was it sadness? Uneasiness?

Apologetic?

She was about to speak and tell him what she had to say, but he beat her to it. And not the normal way that any man would say it. But then maybe Reece was right— men do everything through their actions.

She was looking up at the sky. He'd never seen her look so beautiful the moonlight on her face was glowing her skin, and he wanted to hold her tight. He wanted to apologize. But when she looked up at him with a hurt and sorrowful look, his body acted before his mind.

He rushed over to her and leaned down, embracing her hard, let lightly as not to hurt her. She was fragile, she had already proved that a million times over.

At first he thought that she was not going to return his embrace, but just as he started doubting that she would not forgive him, she pulled him closer to her, burying her head in his chest, and started crying.

He hugged her harder. He didn't want her to cry. He felt like he was about to cry too, and seeing her tears started to make him form his own.

But before they could give way, he finally got to what he had been meaning to say for a long time.

"I'm sorry."

And then both their tears started to fall.

* * *

"I-it's o...k" She managed between sobs and clung tighter to him. His body was so warm against hers, she was frightened to let go.

It was a miracle.

He had felt the same way she felt for a long time. He had the same aching pain in his body and mind that she did. He had felt the feeling of being torn up from the inside.

He was scared that she hated him, and she didn't. She was scared that he hated her, and he didn't.

Not only was she releasing the tears she could have shed every day she didn't see him but didn't, she was shedding tears of happiness that had engulfed her soul once again like it use to.

She was with Van— the only person she ever needed to be with to live.

* * *

The embraced seemed to last a lifetime, to them, at least. But out of weariness, she almost fell asleep and would have fallen onto the floor if his hug wasn't so tight. He understood that she was tired, and she needed a place to sleep. They both did. He was beginning to feel weary himself from standing there. But he didn't want to leave her...he didn't want her to go.

But then figured his bed would hold the two of them just fine.

They were both about to pass out from exhaustion any second anyhow. It's not like anything would happen. He wouldn't dream of doing anything without her consent and permission first. He wasn't going to hurt her ever again, in any way at all.

* * *

She was lucky Van had grown to be so strong and good-willed. He wouldn't do anything to hurt her or make her sad, not after this. He paced her down on one side of his bed, and he fell down onto another. He must have been truly tired. But he still had the strength left in him to move closer to her, and she still had some to again bury her head in his chest, and let him put his arms around her hips.

He was so warm...she was sure that if she were to get up and walk around, she would freeze.

He had really grown since the times they had just simply searched for Zoid Eve. They had been so young then, and she never knew when she had first started loving him. Maybe it was when she first saw him? He was the first thing she ever remembered seeing. She knew that she had always been special to him, but to a child, that isn't love. To a man, she supposed it was though. Because Van had definitely become a man, despite that he was only eighteen.

They were both watching each other. There faces were so close that it scared her, yet excited her at the same time. His dark, coal-colored eyes gazing at her own red ones.

Van indiscreetly couldn't hold himself any longer. While he was gazing into his eyes, he remembered the time she had given him strength in his fight against Raven a long time ago. He remembered what her lips felt like on his. That may have been just a friendly thing back then, but this time it was real.

He pressed his lips to hers, and at first she was too shocked and tired to do anything back. But in turn, after feeling his warmth deepen, returned his kiss.

* * *

They held themselves like that for what had to be about twenty seconds without breathing, because Fiona gasped when his lips finally parted with hers. Seeing her shocked look he thought that he had done something wrong, so shrunk back a bit to give her some space, and murmured "sorry", under his breath.

At least, he thought he was wrong, until Fiona scooted closer to him and this time kissed him first, and when they pulled away for the second time...she was smiling.

He loved her smile.

"I love you." She whispered softly, as if not wanting to be heard.

"The feelings mutual" He replied, and once more gazed into her gleaming eyes before closing his own.

She rested her head into the curve of his muscular shoulder, and allowed him to pull her to him, as they finally fell asleep.

* * *

"How did your side go?" Moonbay asked the next day outside of the building. Reece didn't work for the guardian Force, and neither did Raven, so they weren't allowed in. They had to settle their discussions during Moonbay's, the Schubaltz brothers, and Herman's lunch break.

"Perfect. I convinced her to talk to Van about how she felt. But for more...detail, you should ask Maria."

Maria perked up at her name, and answered the unasked question.

"It went very smoothly. They both hit the deck within a matter of seconds. You can tell they were definitely meant to be. But Thomas, I didn't think of all people you would agree to help with this." She said as she looked over at Thomas, who was sipping some coffee.

"I just had to face the fact she like him and not me. Such a depressing set-back, it was!" He cried enthusiastically as his brother rolled his eyes.

"It was easy to give Van the week off. He needed it anyway. But when you told me what you were planning, I was just happy to know that I wasn't the only one waiting for them to get it over with." Herman added.

"Is it true you had Raven of all people talk to her first?" Moonbay asked Reece.

"I said my share and he said his. He is a man, after all. It was good for her to know what a man would feel in that kind of situation." Reece answered.

"But...Raven?" Moonbay added as a sweat drop formed near her head. Reece sighed as the Guardian force members finished their lunches and began to depart, when none other then Dr. D came out of the building, and began walking towards them.

"Have any of you seen Fiona around? She didn't show up for work today." He asked the group before him. They just widened their eyes like a puppy does after it makes a mess in the house.

"Oh, no! No! Haven't seen her at all! Maybe she's sick or something." Thomas answered for them.

"Oh, alright then." He said as he turned his back to them and headed back into the building, unaware of the giggles and laughs after he shut the door.

* * *

They both woke up around three in the afternoon. Quite an accomplishment for Van, who hadn't gotten any more then at least three hours of sleep a night. Van was the first to wake up, and brushed a few loose strands of hair from Fiona's face, which caused her to stir in her sleep, then shortly afterwards open her eyes.

Again they stared at each other for a good amount of time before talking.

"I was scared." Fiona said, her face half buried into a pillow.

"Of what?" Van asked with a smirk as he inched his face closer to hers.

"That you hated me." She said softly as if she were about to cry again. Van put a hand on her cheek and then hugged her tightly.

"You don't have to worry about that." He reassured her as he let her go, then rolled over onto his back with his arms behind his head, staring at the ceiling.

"But—" She started but cut herself off as she also turned onto her back, arms at her sides underneath the warm.

"There have to be some things better then me."

These words shocked him, because at the moment, he could think of nothing better then her. Or sharing a bed with her. This was part of the low self-esteem she probably acquired after being alone for so long.

He was going to have to prove her wrong.

"Like what? I can't think of anything." He said, regaining his smirk.

"Zoids?"

"Nope." He turned on his side to face her.

"Your job in the Guardian Force?"

"Nope." He leaned over a bit more.

"Papayas?"

That one actually made him blink before he leaned over her more, practically on top of her now.

"Nope." He said as he put his lips on hers, deepened the kiss until it couldn't be deepened anymore, and took a break to breathe.

"But...what about your job? You take off so late." She finally said after about a minute of intent staring.

"Well," Van said and looked at her with that childish smile he was famous for. "First I'm going to have you appointed back to the higher ranks of Guardian force where I am, that way I can see you the whole time I'm at work! Dr. D has been telling us that you're bored with research anyway...and I'll change my shift so that I get in later and get back earlier." From that, he received a light smile from Fiona.

"I like that." She said as she closed her eyes and let him embrace her tightly again, pulling her on top of him.

"And believe me," He grinned. "I'll be taking a lot more days off."

* * *

A/N: The end! OOOMG that was so close to turning into a lemon, but I was too scared to...take it the next step XD...I'm a wimp.

Hope you liked it! R&R!


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